Taiwan Docs

Hong Shu-mian was born in Weitou, Fujian Province of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and served in the Red Guard. Lu Shui-tang was born in Kinmen, Fujian Province of the Republic of China in 1937 and served as a naval intelligence officer.

Before coming to Kinmen's 8/23 War Victory Memorial, this widow from Xiamen and this windoer from Kinmen still argued over the circumstances of the war: as to say which side truly initiated the war and which side suffered the most tragic losses? Then they strode past the political barriers built between the two countries' shores and passed into a new life together.

Shui-tang often gives Shu-mian, who just found a job, rides back and forth from the market. Shu-mian earns one thousand dollars a month, allowing her to send a little money to her children back in mainland China, and also acts as a bit of a matchmaker, introducing a girl from her own village to come to wed in Kinmen. Occasionally Shu-mian and Shui-tang are able to go to the coast and fish together. Steadily good fortune flows through their pure and simple lives.

The camera's lense sees without regard for political complicationsm agem or distance, and The Second Spring of the Strait tells us of certain hopes and what lies ahead.

Source: Taiwan Int'l Ethnographic Film Festival
http://www.tieff.sinica.edu.tw/ch/2001/part3/english-Cb-2.jpg